Frozen strawberries in syrup were packaged in a waxed box with metal ends in the early sixties.

I remember sitting on the linoleum floor in front of the console TV set with the nearly round screen, eating thawed strawberries from the box, and watching Soupy Sales on a Saturday morning.

RIP, Mr. Sales.

UPDATE: There were Roadrunner cartoons after, then American Bandstand, then the event worth waiting for -- ABC's Wide World of Sports.

Birds.

Lucy has decided that she prefers my left hand to step up. She's also left-footed now.

She's doing great in the new cage. I need to power up the the Panasonic to give you pictures.

The little Vivitar doesn't do the job for her.

Dinner party!

Charles (the brother) has a 65th birthday coming up, and the lovely Liza, Michael's lady friend, is coming into her mid-thirties soon. Marsha, Charles' friend, turned 60 last month. Time for dinner.

The menu:

Oysters Rockefeller from this book

Salad from Antoine's cookbook, with mixed greens, blanched asparagus, hearts of palm, avocado, marinated artichokes, tomato and vinaigrette

Boeuf en daube -- served on mashed potatoes

Cherry pie

There is a pretty woman under there.

Quite the getup, eh? And she was still cold.

My sister, the Harley girl. She rode in a troupe with other couples from Dallas to Oklahoma this weekend.

My trip was on a Kawasaki. Which I did once. Which was enough.

If you had told me as late as 45 years old that I would spend a Sunday watching a small animal's reaction to a cage, I would have laughed out loud at you.

Lucy is smart and tough. What a girl.

I have been in touch with a couple of rescue organizations about Lucy's rehab. Again, keep the perches low and food and water dishes within easy reach. For a while at least, put something soft at the bottom of the cage so she doesn't go bonk. Cover slick perches with Vetrap. (3M is too cool for its shirts.) Try to find a cage wider than high, which is easier said than done, though I have one, and Charles (the bird) will fight to a feathery death to keep it for himself.

Lucy's new cage is not particularly high, but it looks like a palace to her.

It has rope perches, cholla perches, and a nice platform perch to sleep on or to hide under. Horizontal bars for climbing. So far, she pretty much hates it, but that's about half an hour's stay with no treats.

The birds and I have been burning up my credit card for online purchases.

Lucy and I are slowly coming back to a point of trust where she doesn't feel the need to chew my hands up when I touch her.

I have been telling Lucy that we have a new cage for her coming. It arrived late this afternoon. She can barely stand aside to let us put it together.

I put a new perch in Charles' cage and he won't even go over there.

Birds.